... The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an
habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its
animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it
astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against
another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold
of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when
accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent
collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted
by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government,
contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes
participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what
reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation
subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and
other sinister and pernicious motives. ...
--GW, 1796
> [...] So repeat Pound, "The principle of evil consists in messing into other
>peoples' affairs". It may have been naive for him to say so, but it was
>probably this idea above all that lead to the circumstances of his
>imprisonment and discrediting.
>
>Charlie
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